For many organisations go-live is the end of the queue.
It’s a big victory to see Workday go live after months of workshops, configuration, testing and deployment. The project team celebrates, the implementation timeline is over and the focus goes back to day-to-day business.
Then an interesting thing occurs.
In real-world scenarios, employees start working in Workday. Managers ask for reports they didn’t think they’d need. HR teams find opportunities to simplify processes. Finance wants new dashboards. Support tickets start to creep up and everyone starts to get ready for the next Workday release.
Not that the implementation was not successful.
This is just what happens when a system moves from project mode to day-to-day business.
Organisations that make the most of their Workday investment understand that go-live is the start of a new phase. One where Workday support is about helping people use the platform, making sure the system is aligned to changing business needs and continually improving how Workday supports the organisation.
During implementation, you want to design and deploy a solution that fits the needs of your organisation at that point in time.
Once Workday goes live, the focus shifts.
You’re supporting a business that’s still growing rather than delivering a project.
New hires are added. Teams develop in other areas. Business processes evolve. Reporting requirements rise. The rules are changing. Departments start to use Workday in ways that couldn’t always be foreseen during implementation.
An uptick in support requests in the first few weeks after launch is also common. This time, often referred to as Hypercare, is intended to support organisations in moving smoothly from implementation into day-to-day operations. In Hypercare, project teams work closely with business users to resolve issues quickly, answer questions and ensure employees are comfortable with the system before support transitions into a steady-state operational model.
This is expected and planning for it is as important as planning for the go-live.
Most post-go-live challenges are a result of people using Workday in their daily roles and discovering new ways the system can support them.
Some of the most common include:
- Employees needing guidance with new processes or features.
- Requests for configuration changes as business needs evolve.
- New reporting requirements from HR, Finance, and leadership teams.
- Managing security roles as teams grow or responsibilities change.
- Monitoring integrations with payroll and other business systems.
- Preparing for upcoming Workday releases.
On their own, these requests are manageable. Over time, however, they can build into a growing backlog if there isn’t a clear support model in place.
Hence post-go-live support is about having the ability to create a structured approach to managing change that does not disrupt day-to-day operations.
Prepare before Go-Live with this guide on Workday Go-Live Checklist: The Key Steps for a Successful Deployment
With Workday becoming part of the daily routine, support naturally goes beyond just answering user questions.
When it is well run, a support function combines people, processes, and technology to keep the platform running efficiently and to support the evolution of the business.
Supporting your people
The first few months after go-live play a vital role in long-term adoption.
Some employees may struggle with tasks that they are unfamiliar with, managers often have questions about approvals or reporting and new hires need to be on-boarded into Workday processes.
Providing support on time, delivering refresher training, and giving clear communication all help to build employee confidence and promote the use of the platform.
Supporting your platform
Business priorities don’t stand still for long and Workday needs to keep pace.
Operations involve ongoing configuration changes, security administration, report maintenance, integration monitoring, and tenant management. Regular review of these areas helps ensure system performance and reduces the risk of issues accumulating over time.
Equally important is governance.
Not every idea for improvement should be implemented right away. Having a review process in place helps organisations assess business value, understand wider impacts and prioritise changes that deliver the greatest benefit, while keeping the system clean and scalable.
Supporting continuous improvemen
One of Workday’s biggest strengths is that it continues to evolve.
Organisations regularly get new features, enhancements and improvements with two major releases each year. Release notes should be reviewed, business impact assessed, changes tested in the Preview tenant and communicated to users as part of an ongoing support cycle.
Many organisations are not taking opportunities because they do not have the time or resources to assess each release. A structured release management process helps ensure that you don’t overlook valuable features and reduces the risk of unexpected issues when updates are introduced.
Business priorities don’t stop changing after implementation, and neither should your Workday environment.
Perhaps your organisation has expanded into new markets, introduced new compliance requirements, or restructured departments. Maybe leadership needs different workforce insights than they did a year ago, or HR wants to automate processes that were originally handled manually.
These are signs that your organisation is growing.
Workday grows with the business through regular optimisation. Sometimes that means streamlining business processes. Sometimes it’s better reports, adopting new functionality from a Workday release or fine-tuning security and integrations.
Little improvements done consistently often have a greater long-term impact than waiting for a big transformation project every few years.
How Do You Know When Your Support Model Needs to Evolve?
A lot of organisations start out with a small internal team managing Workday post go-live.
As the organisation grows, the same team may find themselves juggling support requests, release planning, testing, reporting, integrations and enhancement projects, all while supporting their day-to-day responsibilities.
Here are some signs that it may be time to reassess your support approach:
- Support requests continue to grow at a rate faster than they are solved.
- Users are building manual workarounds instead of using Workday processes.
- Workday releases are implemented without fully reviewing new features.
- Planned improvements keep being delayed because internal teams are focused on day-to-day support.
- Business leaders are requesting improvements faster than resources can provide.
These challenges are not necessarily a sign that something is wrong. More often, they are an indication that the organisation has matured and that its support model needs to mature with it.
There isn’t a cookie cutter approach to post-go-live support.
Some organisations have found internal Workday administrators who provide on-going support but bring in specialist expertise for larger initiatives or releases.
Others use Workday Application Management Services (AMS) or Workday Managed Services partners to supplement their internal teams. This way, organisations can bring in expertise in areas like configuration, release management, reporting, integrations, testing, security administration and continuous optimisation without having to expand their in-house team.
For many organisations the best model is a combination of both. Internal teams provide business knowledge and day-to-day ownership, while external specialists provide additional capacity and deep technical expertise when required.
The objective is to strengthen it as the organisation and its Workday environment continue to evolve.
You’ve made it past go-live. Your Workday system is live, your teams are learning, and the dust is settling. But here’s the reality: success with Workday only begins at implementation and continues into different stages.
Here’s How to Get More from Your AMS Partner: Going Beyond Basic Support
Conclusion
Go-live is one of the biggest milestones in a Workday implementation, but it doesn’t end there.
A successful Workday deployment doesn’t end with going live. This is the point at which your organisation begins using Workday to support real business decisions, processes and people every day.
As the priorities, business processes, and Workday capabilities change, so should your support strategy. Regular optimisation, thoughtful governance, release planning and ongoing user support help ensure that the platform continues to meet your organization’s needs long after implementation is complete.
The organisations that get the most out of their Workday investment do not regard deployment as the last milestone. They see it as the foundation for continuous improvement, with small, meaningful changes over time that allow Workday to keep pace with the business as it scales.
If you’re planning a Workday deployment or preparing for life after go-live, creating a clear post-deployment support strategy from the outset will help your teams adapt faster, maximise user adoption and realise long-term value from your Workday investment.
